There seem to be two kinds of Dana White interviews these days, the by the numbers stuff about world dominance and the open and honest (or as honest as a promoter can be) interview. Sports Illustrated has the chance to sit down with Dana and they got one of those fantastic open interviews. There is plenty of great stuff in the interview including Dana making a vague statement that he is unhappy with some things going on behind the scenes:

SI.com: What are you looking at?

White: First of all, there're things going on that I'm unhappy with, here at the company, that we're going to fix and change over the next few months, and you're going to see us get back on track here in the next few months. As you start to get bigger and you start to expand into all these different places, and you're working on all these crazy deals, things start to get out of control. I'm going to get some more control around here in the next three months. And that includes my business as a whole, my actual office and employees and departments, right down to s--- that's going on with the fighters.

I'm not usually a fan of Dana, but I thought that was a really good interview. Interesting info and fun to read. If I were to take a guess, I believe he is planning to eliminate Scott Coker from his active role and that's what he means by "take more control". I wouldn't blame him because I've always kind of viewed Coker as an inept manager and not really suited for this type of business. Just my two cents.

Side note: have we named this guy yet?

Last edited 7/28/11 1:41PM server time by DeadHead988Edit note/reason: n/a

Dana White: "And I've been getting some phone calls, and some of these guys that are involved in Strikeforce would like me to be more involved in Strikeforce."

I myself have rarely wanted more Dana White involvement; I think Dana is, in general, bad for the sport of MMA. However, I also think that he should be very much involved with Strikeforce now that they are rightfully expected to be a crucial part of the soon-coming expansion of the UFC. If he expresses interest he can bring fighters in.

When the UFC acquired Strikeforce, it was clear to me that this could either be a big expansion, or a dissolution of a competitor. I honestly don't think that Dana White knows the difference.

We need the big guys from Strikeforce in the UFC. Many of the guys on TUF are less deserving of a shot in the UFC, whether or not these guys from SF are exceedingly likely to gain UFC belts. Alistair Overeem for one I believe should be challenging in the UFC, and guys like Josh Barnett are ruled out exclusively as a result of petty personal squabbles.

I think that ultimately the acquisition of Strikeforce will be similar to that of Pride, where only some of the fighters ended up in the UFC. I feel so far that the transition from Strikeforce to UFC will actually be less effective though, which is a real shame considering how insignificant the payoff was for buying out Pride, considering what it could have represented.

More criticism from Dana White frequently means more burned bridges and it's just bad news for fans.

SI.com: The criticism is, why is fighting in an exciting fashion part of the job? Isn't the job to win the fight?

White: Sure. But you've got to be exciting! If all we cared about was guys winning fights, you know how many wrestlers could just go lay on a guy? There are tons of wrestlers that could do that. I don't know. Do you think we'd be talking about all these big plans and all the exciting things that we're going to be doing if that was the case? I mean, that's a pretty stupid question.

SI.com: It's a question that gets asked, though, which is why I'm asking.

White: Yeah, but it's stupid. If somebody really asks that question, you'd have to look at them and go, "Are you stupid?" Seriously, it's a really dumb question.

SI.com: How so? Spell it out for me.

White: Why do guys have to put on exciting fights? Well, let's see. We're in the television and pay-per-view business. I don't know. I don't know too many people that tune in to watch unexciting fights.

...Classic Dana right there. Rather than get into a discussion about a purist mentality or some such thing, cut right to the chase. People won't watch if it's boring. The sport will die if it's boring and people don't watch.

_______________________________________“Islam is the religion of peace & I'm a gay pirate playing harpsicord in a Lawrence Welk coverband!.” Ted Nugent

Dana White: "And I've been getting some phone calls, and some of these guys that are involved in Strikeforce would like me to be more involved in Strikeforce."

I myself have rarely wanted more Dana White involvement; I think Dana is, in general, bad for the sport of MMA. However, I also think that he should be very much involved with Strikeforce now that they are rightfully expected to be a crucial part of the soon-coming expansion of the UFC. If he expresses interest he can bring fighters in.

When the UFC acquired Strikeforce, it was clear to me that this could either be a big expansion, or a dissolution of a competitor. I honestly don't think that Dana White knows the difference.

We need the big guys from Strikeforce in the UFC. Many of the guys on TUF are less deserving of a shot in the UFC, whether or not these guys from SF are exceedingly likely to gain UFC belts. Alistair Overeem for one I believe should be challenging in the UFC, and guys like Josh Barnett are ruled out exclusively as a result of petty personal squabbles.

I think that ultimately the acquisition of Strikeforce will be similar to that of Pride, where only some of the fighters ended up in the UFC. I feel so far that the transition from Strikeforce to UFC will actually be less effective though, which is a real shame considering how insignificant the payoff was for buying out Pride, considering what it could have represented.

More criticism from Dana White frequently means more burned bridges and it's just bad news for fans.

Dana whites bad for the sport? Really? If Dana and the fertittas didn't rescue the ufc, we wouldnt be arguing this right now. He's bad for the sport, why cuz he doesn't play nice. And for burning bridges, he burned the Strikeforce bridge do bad that the ufc now OWNS them. He may not be the most popular person in your eyes but the fact is he is part of the reason its where it is. Yes, I feel we need some of the bigger names from Strikeforce in the ufc, but we will have to wait and see what becomes of Strikeforce. Barnett tested positive for roids in the ufc and that's why he lost the belt, so its not a personal vendetta by zuffa. Plus he STILL can't seem to piss clean on a regular basis

Last edited 7/28/11 4:17PM server time by prophecy033Edit note/reason: n/a2 total post edits

I wish Dana White the absolute worst in life, he is absolute garbage and SCUM.

"If Fedor gets knocked out, he got knocked out by a middleweight, if Fedor wins, he beat a middleweight ,it's a lose-lose"

If you believe that Dana then you should discredit your star HW, 280 pound Brock Lesnar for beating a LHW Couture.

Absolutely pathetic.

if Dana's "SCUM", what the hell are all of us?

Dana isn't scum. Scum are the child molestors and serial rapists out in the world.

I do understand his criticism of the Fedor comment though. So if Fedor beats a middleweight, then what did Rampage beat? It didn't look like Quinton was fighting a MW to me. In fact, Rampage has at times weighed more than Fedor who I believe could easily cut to 205. Dana White is not scum, but he is definately biased against Fedor which everyone who follows this sport knows.

I wish Dana White the absolute worst in life, he is absolute garbage and SCUM.

Whoa there dude! Dana white really pisses me off some times too. I don't appreciate his comments that attempt to negate the value of the Fedor-Henderson fight at all. I don't always agree with his policies, or the directions the UFC appears to be taking, or the matches that are made.... but isn't that a little much?

In Dana's defense, Lesnar-Couture was a fine fight to make. Randy was the undisputed HW champion of the world, in spite of giving up a lot of height and weight to his opponents (hmm, sounds familiar...). He had just gotten the belt from Sylvia, and then subsequently TKO'ed Gonzaga to defend it (Gonzaga was looking like a human murdering machine at the time). Not to mention, Couture looked pretty good against Brock until he got clipped by those cinder block fists behind the ear.

Dana White's personality might rub a lot of people the wrong way, myself included. But if it weren't for him and the fact he just happened to have friends who were (are) billionaires, this sport probably wouldn't be where it is today.

I wish Dana White the absolute worst in life, he is absolute garbage and SCUM.

Whoa there dude! Dana white really pisses me off some times too. I don't appreciate his comments that attempt to negate the value of the Fedor-Henderson fight at all. I don't always agree with his policies, or the directions the UFC appears to be taking, or the matches that are made.... but isn't that a little much?

In Dana's defense, Lesnar-Couture was a fine fight to make. Randy was the undisputed HW champion of the world, in spite of giving up a lot of height and weight to his opponents (hmm, sounds familiar...). He had just gotten the belt from Sylvia, and then subsequently TKO'ed Gonzaga to defend it (Gonzaga was looking like a human murdering machine at the time). Not to mention, Couture looked pretty good against Brock until he got clipped by those cinder block fists behind the ear.

Dana White's personality might rub a lot of people the wrong way, myself included. But if it weren't for him and the fact he just happened to have friends who were (are) billionaires, this sport probably wouldn't be where it is today.

I said pretty much the same a few posts back. Woulda gave props but I gotta spread the love... I get ya later